Shattered Planes Archives (Seasons 4 & 5)
Beyond => {Destroyed} Abandoned Guardian Headquarters => Topic started by: Queen Bright on March 19, 2011, 10:51:37 PM
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~In a flash, everyone that had been in the Outerverse excluding K2323 and Animas, had appeared within the the abandoned Guardian Headquarters.~
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Wooden floors -- like that of a dojo -- filled the complex, white walls shadowed by the darkness outside the complex. The once great home of the Guardians, now abandoned. A great mass of people appeared in a great gymnasium at the center of the headquarters. Upon their arrivals, candlelights lit up in the gymnasium, the candles plastered against the wall.
The gymnasium ceiling was a glass dome, looking up at a mass form of darkness -- smoke -- which burst through the glass the moment it sensed the new arrivals, the glass shattering down into a million pieces. The base security system was awake.
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The place mended itself back together. The Virus spread out from Hikaru and infected the Guardian Headquarters, and eventually took control of it.
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The ingrounded Hikaru had been expecting this. Ever since attacking it in her youth, she knew there would be something to protect the place. That's why the moment she had appeared, she went to work to ensure the protection of the people there. First, taking control of the glass and levitating it elsewhere, and then designing a barrier to protect the people there.
Holding her hand up, Hikaru said few words, as a wring of red magic formed around it. The ring rose up, and as it did, it became larger, eventually encompassing the whole groups of people. When it had them surrounded, it dropped to the floor and painted its self upon the wood. "DLEIHS!" The ingrounded Hikaru called out, a transparent barrier bubbling up from the ring and surrounding those in it.
With the spells cast, she released her hold on them, and allowed them to program themselves, in order to preserve power. "Well," the ingrounded Hikaru grinned as she clapped her hands, "I haven't been here in years. Still as hostile as ever."
"I agree," a voice spoke, the voice of the current Hikaru most knew. She pulled herself up off the ground as she surveyed the room. "Not since chasing K2323 and Kai..." She paused, "But why are we here?"
"So you're awake!" The ingrounded Hikaru, looked over to her counterpart, "We need to figure out what to do with them before we do anything else. If I sensed the spell right, I'm pretty sure K2323 is about to destroy their dimension."
"..." The current Hikaru remained silent.
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The Virus forced the HQ's hostilities to cease.
"Well, if K2 has a problem with the bloody war against the damn Virus, then he'll be facing more then just the Aralangs. The Virus wouldn't bother teaming up with K2, either. If he tries to destroy both... well... it would only serve to temporarily stop things, but in the whole picture, the war won't end," Gaserlake announced. "The Virus would bloody damn know what I'm fucking talking about."
"Do I have to obey the other Hikaru as well?" the Virus asked Hikaru in her mind.
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"It seems to me..." The Ingrounded Hikaru mused, "that your Virus isn't all that dangerous with a master. Not as much as you or your documents make it out to be, anyways." She laughed, "Either way, I'd shut up and think about the predicament I was in if I were you. In all technicalities I may not have been the one you wronged, but that doesn't mean I still don't hold grudge on the part you played with the Alliance and causing magic to be the minority." Then as an afterthought she quickly added, "Though it's partly my fault for keeping too low of a profile in the First Sage War. Perhaps we'd have won then."
"If... If we're the same," the current Hikaru muttered after retaining her silence longer, "Then how did it happen?"
"I'd rather explain when K2323 gets here. I don't really like having to explain twice." The ingrounded Hikaru frowned which made the current Hikaru scowl.
"Fine..." Though she let the question drop, the current Hikaru thought to the Virus, "Only if I say... I don't trust it just yet. She.. It.. could still be a clone". The current Hikaru looked back to the Ingrounded Hikaru, "Then if you have the powers of an Ingrounded, why didn't you intervene in the latest predicaments? Mainly.. the ones with these bastards."
"What sort of powerful sage would I be if I helped myself out of something so challenging." The Ingrounded Hikaru smirked. "If I can't even break out of prison, then I don't have the power to boast my title. The Sage Three are powerful, but the mortals just don't realize it. They of course need to learn. That's why I left what happened as it was. To prove that power." There was an air of royalty that seemed to figuratively glow around the Ingrounded Hikaru, that the current Hikaru hadn't had for a while. In her words, her actions, and her attitude. It was the same ride she had held back when she had ruled with her brothers. The pride of being of power, and deserving that power all in one.
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Gaserlake rolled his eyes. "The only mistake I made was when I was wanting to kill you for releasing the documents. Other than that, I knew what I was doing," he said. He grew anxious and looked at the crowd of two races while the Ingrounded Hikaru boasted about power. "Errrr... Uhhh... let's talk about this somewhere else," Gaserlake said as he pushed the two Hikarus by the shoulders to a nearby room, a control room in fact, while Leserlake followed behind. Gaserlake locked the door shut.
"I don't want people to hear about the ingrounded," he nervously said. "I don't want them to get involved and have their lives get put through Hell, like me."
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The ingrounded Hikaru simply phased through him when he tried to push her, and scoffed at his comment. But nevertheless, she followed as well. "Oh? So the father ant cares about his ant colony now, is it? Then why so quick to let my other half destroy them?" The ingrounded Hikaru looked curious, while at the same time held an expression of pure mocking painted across her face.
As for the current Hikaru, she stopped abruptly and held her stance against him pushing, slipped out of his grasp, and joined the ingrounded Hikaru.
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"I don't want the fields to be destroyed," Gaserlake answered. "Weakens the Aralang forces around the dimensional plane. Then again, I guess it would help resolve conflicts." He looked at Hikaru's pocket. "Those Aralangs have to go, too."
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The ingrounded Hikaru's eyes followed to where Gaserlake was staring at, and she rolled her eyes, "Where you staring at, old man?" The ingrounded Hikaru teased. "Anyways, did you never think of personal fields? It wouldn't disgrace us magic users near enough as it's not against us, it's just protecting you. That's what I'd have done anyways." She laughed. "Oh yes, that's right. Back when my brothers and I ruled, we had some anti-magic things as well."
"WHAT?!" The current Hikaru's attention looked to her counterpart.
"It's the half of our memories that I have. I said there were things you don't remember." The ingrounded Hikaru snapped her fingers and the bottle of shrunken down Aralangs appeared in her hand. Holding the bottle in her hand, she glanced to Leserlake, "Think fast." The Ingrounded Hikaru threw the bottle to him.
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"Well, I guess those would work" Gaserlake replied, "But I have to stick to Hikaru's deal." He smiled at the Ingrounded Hikaru's statement. "Now that's ironic."
Leserlake caught the bottle. He held up the bottle. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
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"You're actually going to hold to that deal?" The ingrounded Hikaru looked a slight bit amazed. "Seems the mortals have changed since last time I was around. The Alliance never agreed to bargains like that. It was either their way of ruling everything their way with their damn technology, or nothing. Add that to the fact they were only self proclaimed rulers and didn't take the dimension in fair combat, and you see why we hated the mortals." The ingrounded Hikaru blinked for a minute, realizing she had trailed off in her recounting of the past.
"Anyways," She glanced to Leserlake, "You told my counterpart that technology can do everything Magic can. Well, turn them back to normal your self then. Have fuuuun."
"You said too much...." The current Hikaru muttered under her breath.
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Leserlake analyzed the miniscule Aralangs inside the bottle. He shrugged and put the bottle into his own pocket. "I'll find a way, then."
"Hikaru, we've done a lot sins in our pasts," Gaserlake assured her. "It's not like I'm not going to let you live it down."
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The security system shook off the control of the virus, but did not try to attack again. It did, however, keep an eye on Hikaru.
Meanwhile, both Hikarus suddenly found their souls vibrating as the very scent of Koty surrounded them. A mere whisper, it resounded in their minds....
"Help me."
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The last time the Virus took control of the HQ was when it was groggy. This time, the Virus wasn't groggy, and it was much stronger, which made it much easier for the Virus to take over the HQ, in which it did.
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The HQ fought back, constantly adapting to the virus and changing so that it could not be infected.
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Only one Hikaru heard the whisper from Koty, as the spirit of the other one never went through the ritual and was thus not tied. True, the two were the same, but at the same time, they did not have the same spirit in entirety. And the ingrounded one was in such a state the ritual would have made no difference in. The current Hikaru, however, did hear it, but because of former events, she opted to ignore it. Koty was nothing to her now.
"If you can." The Ingrounded Hikaru smirked for a second, before blinking, "Well, looks like my brother has just figured out the secret of the Outerverse."
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The whisper only grew more intense, eventually raising into a yelling which Hikaru could not possibly ignore. Screaming out her name, it only grew worse, burning with an unmistakable passion. His voice reflected the same human pain Hikaru had seen him suffer. It was the same yell, the same hurt, that he had suffered in Erebus countless times. It was a cry to Hikaru, a begging for her to remember her the man she loved.
Help me. Help me.
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The HQ couldn't adapt well enough. The Virus was able to adapt as well, and then it simultaneously adapted to multiple ways the HQ did to resist. It went to the point that if the HQ did one way, the Virus has already adapted to it, and if the HQ did another way, the Virus has already resisted to that. The same goes for changing. It doesn't matter how it changes. The Virus merely changes with it. The HQ has quickly run out of options and it had no choice but to submit to the infection and control.
"What's the secret?" Gaserlake asked. He expected to get yelled at for asking because of the ASF.
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Wouldn't you like to know," The ingrounded Hikaru glanced to him. "What? Going to try to take it over again? Your dogs won last time only by mere chance. Don't think such a victory will come again." That same air of royalty returned as the ingrounded Hikaru spoke, each and every word she said, seemed to glow with a presence of pride.
"The Outerverse is a sanctuary..." the current Hikaru muttered, "It's the only place safe from people like them," her eyes glanced to the two Aralangs as she spoke. In her mind however, she tuned out the message from Koty and toned it out best she could.
"But only at the users whim..." When her counterpart glanced to her, the ingrounded Hikaru continued, "It takes shape from what those who own it will it to. Desert? Forest? Sea? If you own the Outerverse and your mind is set on that, then that is what it will become. If you want it to protect you? It will protect you. But only if you tell it to and only if you KNOW it wil. Those fools did not know." Crossing her arms, the ingrounded stayed silent for a moment before she made up her mind and continued, "The same thing works with effects. It disallows technology. Because the owners have wanted it that way. Well.. except your mutts. But alas, they didn't know the secret." The ingrounded Hikaru smirked, "And it's a good thing too."
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"The secret is that they could have made the Outerverse accept technology, or what?" Gaserlake insisted.
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"No. But that's true as well. The secret..." The ingrounded Hikaru threw up her hand and in the center of it there appeared an orb of fire which she promptly threw up into the air and let it levitate above her. "Is that it's not just a dimension. It's... I guess you could say, a core.." Flicking both hands outward, the ingrounded Hikaru glanced up to the levitating orb of fire, where millions of other small shards of fire appeared around it. From each shard, threads of light were shown, tying them together to the main orb of fire.
"It's what keeps everything tied together. Control the Oouterverse and..." The ingrounded Hikaru snapped her fingers and all the other shards flashed with brilliance of orange and gold before exploding and fading away. "Control our side of the Dimensional Plane."
The current Hikaru flicked her hand and made the last orb fade. "Which was the reason for the last battle. And YOU'RE TELLING IT TO THE ENEMY!"
The ingrounded Hikaru rolled her eyes, "They can't do much."
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"Oh, wow!" Gaserlake laughed.
"What? You're telling me that someone can control so much with just that?" Leserlake asked.
"Look, let's just talk about the ingrounded," Gaserlake demanded with an interrupting voice, with an irritated expression. "I'm more curious about that, and it's the only reason why I led you into this room away from the others. You can talk about this to K2 later. But first, what did you talk about with 'him'?" His expression changed to nervousness. He's too used to Smith to not know the possibilities of the guy, and most of the experience with him was not good, so he wouldn't expect it to be any good. Then again, he wouldn't expect her to answer that question, due to the mysterious nature of Smith.
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"Thaaat's right," the ingrounded Hikaru answered Leserlake, her eyes shone with a glint of pure evil.
In response to Gaserlake's change of subject, the ingrounded Hikaru glanced to the side, her eyes to the wall as she remembered back to the 'meetings.' "It is of no importance... We only talked a few times." She ended the discussion at that.
As for the current Hikaru, she took delight in informing Leserlake further of his assumption, "With the Outerverse in control, we can destroy the whole Dimensional Plane if we want to. So enjoy your damn victories while they last!" The current Hikaru growled.
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Leserlake glared at the ingrounded Hikaru as her eyes shown the glint of pure evil.
"So, how did you become ingrounded?" Gaserlake asked.
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"Not until K2323 gets here." The ingrounded Hikaru simply replied. "I don't like explaining twice."
The current Hikaru said nothing.
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Gaserlake sighed. "I'll tell K2 for you, if you want." He looked to the current Hikaru. "What? It's not like I'm going to take over the Outerverse."
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"Fine fine." The ingrounded HIkaru looked a bit annoyed yet at the same time her eyes held a haunted look as she thought back to the day it happened. The day she managed to become ingrounded. "Death of the Spirit, permanent, no?" She asked. "Asura's already explained how the Subgrounded that die become Ingrounded. Well, I didn't exactly die. But at the same time, I did. Back in the Excell Tournament, in the fight with my brother..."
The current Hikaru glanced to her in interest as her counterpart's words started to trail off.
"He used a spell. A spell I didn't know about. Not at that time anyways. It was a very powerful spell. A spell to effectively cut ones existence. In effect, killing them. Or at least, that was his idea. He got more than he bargained for." The ingrounded Hikaru snapped her fingers, "I guess it'd be best if I just showed. The ingrounded Hikaru snapped her fingers as a hologram of memories appeared into focus, the room taken to that very point in the end of her battle in the Excell Tournament.
((This actually happened in the OK. As soon as I get the OK backups to work, I'll have the actual post up for view. Till now, I'll quote mine and K2s))
K2323 fader.
"Clones. Illusions. Now, Hikaru, you fell into my trap."
The chain still on him reached out and grabbed Hikaru, regrowing. K2323 then was a part of her magic. She had broken the chain. The chain was now squeesing her to death while he was inside her magic. WAS her magic.
A darker magic entered Hikaru's magic. He then forced all her magic, including him, to be used, and closed the gates of her soul. No magic could ever be produced or come into her soul again.
As for K2323, he found himself remateralised in the real world.
He shot five last beems of energy at Hikaru.
"I didn't carve my name for nothing.."
Suddenly, the physical energy of Hikaru was destoryed.
Even if that was a clone, it was made from Hikaru's magic.
Enough to produce the gate. The real Hikaru and all the clones could never open the gates again to nor thier magic and soul or Physical Energy to fight.
"GRRR..I k-k-knew this was going to happen..Which is why I came prepared" Hikaru stuttered, as she revealed a watch-like object on her wrist and hit a button on it, teleporting out of the chains by use of technology, not magic. Dropping to her knees, she regained her breath then stood back up.
"K...k.kill me and the Ancestors will never come back! They aren't as dead as you think they are, oh they're very much alive, just locked away!"
K2323 stood still in pain for a moment then jumped up.
"I learned that is true in my training. I saw them."
He kicked Hikaru and zapped her with more magic blasts.
"One more step.." he said.
"He took out a knife and stabbed the place Hikaru had teleported from.
"Cut." he said.
Suddenly, the very existence of Hikaru ripped in half.
"Grr..I..I..I'll be b..b..back " Hikaru stuttered. "T...then y..you'll die.." She then faded out of existance, becoming energy it'self which took the form of 4 red energy spheres, two of memories, two of spirit. The spheres started to come back together into phoenix reincarnation but then were struck apart by the spell. Two faded, while the other two burst into flames and disappeared to another part of the land.
The memory hologram faded and the ingrounded Hikaru continued.
"My spirit was cut in half. My memories, my being, my magic. All of me. Because I was subgrounded I could not be re-incarnated. So I became ingrounded, partially. I wasn't complete, as my brothers later did a ritual to bring me back. That would be my counterpart here." The ingrounded Hikaru motioned to the current Hikaru. "However, Kai in his evil state at the time, working for Zere, burned the book I had kept with all my memories for my re-incarnated state to return to normal with.
The current Hikaru could say nothing at this point. It seemed unreal, yet at the same time... the new Hikaru was right, she didn't remember EVERYTHING. Hadn't that been obvious at points? She could only stay speechless as she thought over everything she had just heard. It was just too much to take in.
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And ontop of that surprise, Hikaru had to deal with the undying screams of her lover, the affectionate begging for help from the man she had bonded with in so many ways. They shared one path, and Koty knew this. "Can't.... breathe," Koty whispered, sending pulse after pulse to her, insisting for her to listen.
Meanwhile the security system had continued adapting to the adaption of the virus. Just when the virus would think it could overpower the Guardian HQ, it would advance the adaption to a whole new level. The security system was obviously advanced in design and wouldn't be put down by the virus.
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OOC: Nisorins post is null, Gasers characters' signature is suppressed.
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"So, wait. There's more than one way to become ingrounded?" Gaserlake asked.
"And what do you mean by 'partially' ingrounded, anyway?" Leserlake also inquired.
The Virus became a part of the HQ. When the HQ adapted, the Virus adapted with it. Of course, the Virus is careful to make sure that the HQ doesn't make it happen both ways, as in having the HQ do something that causes the Virus the same to itself. The Virus would only make sure that it would copy the HQ for benefit, not for anything detrimental to it. If the HQ would advance the adaption to a whole new level, the Virus will with it. The Virus has already completely infected before, so it would know what it was fighting against. It was advanced in design, yes, which the Virus was already familiar with.
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The current Hikaru merely continued to ignore it, pushing the message from Koty to the most deepest layers of her mind. There WAS no real connection anymore because of it falling away after what Koty had 'become.' This made it all the easier to tone him out.
"No," the ingrounded Hikaru replied. "There's not two ways. Technically, my spirit did die. Well, half of it, anyways. The other half was brought back BEFORE it could be destroyed. So the half that was destroyed became ingrounded." She rolled her eyes at the next comment, "It's partial, because it's not complete. I was not a complete spirit when the process was done. And it has its... price to pay..." The ingrounded Hikaru went quite after her last statement signaling, the topic to be dropped.
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But the virus could never truly become one with the HQ. Its security systems were frequently changing, significantly different then from when the virus originally infected the HQ, and even different from the day before (or even the hour before), making them more and more unadaptable as time went on. The security systems could adapt to the virus, but as time went on, the virus would not be able to adapt to the changes of the security system. You couldn't attack the HQ without getting past the security system, so the virus couldn't really get around the adapting battle.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew throughout the control room, pure darkness carried within it. In the center of the room, a large doorway of sorts, made completely of pure black energy, raised up, unleashing a wave of corruption into the room as it did. On the other side, there was pure and utter devastation. The other side showed a prairie with black grass and a gray sky, dark as night, with blood red clouds overhead. The gateway was to Nox. The gateway was from Koty.
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One of the Virus' main abilities was to adapt, and it was very good at that. It was trying to infect not just the security system, but everywhere. If the HQ changed to one thing, the Virus would adapt to it, and it would stay that way, so that if the HQ changed back to the way it was before, the Virus would have already adapted to it, and would therefore be prepared for it. Soon, the HQ would run out changes. It was like the Virus was brute-forcing its way through.
"So, are there gonna be plans for using the Outerverse to destroy the Dimensional Plane?" Gaserlake asked.
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As a security system designed to hold the protect against the worst of doomsday situations, the HQ was also especially skilled at adapting. The virus would find itself unable to get to the entire HQ without getting past the security system, as if it were a password of sorts, and the only key was the security system. The HQ could not be infected unless the security system was as well. The HQ was CONSTANTLY changing while at the same time adapting to the virus. The HQ NEVER repeated any scenario and was constantly different. There were an infinite amounts of changes the HQ could make to keep the virus off its trail, so the virus would never be able to adapt to the security system. The security system continued adapting to the virus's ability to adapt and to its ability to infect at the same time, further strengthening its immunity.
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"Why don't you just wait to find out?" The ingrounded Hikaru smirked, the points of her teeth showing ever so slight enough to give her the look of evil. This was a Hikaru that hadn't been around since the Excel tournament. This meant she had never met Koty, had never apologized to her family, had never fallen in love, and had never been broken or lost her pride. While she wasn't as sinful as Kurai, or merciless as her counterpart in the state of no conscience, this didn't make her any less evil.
"As if I or my counterpart would tell you anyway." The current Hikaru glanced over as well. "Why? So you can try to arrest us again?" I don't think so."
"As if he could." The ingrounded Hikaru rolled her eyes before looking at the sudden appearance of the Death Gate before her counterpart the current Hikaru could react to it. "Unless I wanted a challenge, I wouldn't allow myself to be so easily caught." Raising her hand to it, she focused on the Death Gate and used her powers of being partially ingrounded to force it to fade. This of course didn't come without a price, and it was shown by her flickering to even more transparent for a quick moment, than back to normal.
"However, any plans, I believe I will have to discuss with my brother. It's time the Sage Three take back their rightful place as rulers. If anyone has a problem with that or decides to try to play hero. Well, they can be thrust into a black hole. "
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The Virus was also CONSTANTLY changing while at the same time adapting to the HQ. The Virus has already experienced these situations in its past, so it is very seasoned, and it knew what it was doing. The Virus also infects differently, and ever since the HQ changed itself, the Virus changed itself as well as how it infected, so the HQ wouldn't be able to immunize itself against the Virus' attempts of infection. Unfortunately for the HQ, the Virus was able to change, much, MUCH faster, which included adapting and infecting, and it didn't stop there. It was constantly increasing it speed, and the rate would not stop. It would merely go faster, and faster, and faster, until the HQ's security system has been breached before the HQ could react or even notice it. The HQ wouldn't be able to notice anyway, since the Virus has no signature at all. The HQ was pretty much blind. It blindly changed itself, and it wouldn't know the Virus' pattern, except for when the Virus did hit the HQ. Therefore, the Virus knew more about the HQ than the HQ knew about the Virus. That means that while the HQ can't really predict much of the Virus, the Virus would be able to accurately predict the HQ's oncoming moves. Therefore, the HQ was destined to be infected, one way or the other.
Leserlake growled and clenched his fists, while Gaserlake merely rolled his eyes.
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"However, before any of that. There's three things to be taken care of first." The ingrounded Hikaru glanced in the direction of Leserlake, her eyes watching him with interest and observing his reactions. "First of all, what to do with that un-sightly horde in the other room, second, to solve this price, oh and third, what was it... Oh! What to do about that Virus you and your documents seem to be so afraid of... Destroy it, enslave it, or sacrifice it for power..." While going through each decision aloud, the ingrounded Hikaru laughed at Leserlake. "Oh don't growl, it makes you look soo primitive. And if you appear that way... Well I guess you'll be the first to go."
"We could do my plan before," the current Hikaru interrupted. "Use the Virus to enslave every sentient species, force them to destroy their own technology, and then let them go. When that's done, we simply get K2323 and Kai together and take over. There wouldn't even be a need for the Third Sage War."
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The Security system also obviously had past experience, considering the place it was protecting was a place of prime value and as such was often attacked. The security system also knew what it was doing and was very seasoned, perhaps more seasoned than the virus. The HQ was immune as long as they both kept changing. The HQ could change just as fast as the virus, and as such kept itself from being infected. The HQ protected itself by going as fast as the virus, and it continued to protect itself. The HQ wouldn't wear down.
In fact, the HQ eventually began to move faster than the virus. It used this speed as an opportunity to attack the virus. It was only a matter of time until the virus was defeated.
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Leserlake grinded his teeth.
"Oh, so you're just going to do that anyway, huh?" Gaserlake asked. "So, would it even matter if I really destroyed the fields or not?"
The Virus had more experience than the HQ. The Virus had experience of infecting things, and went through MANY cases of resistance, including the the kind of resistance the HQ is using. The HQ, on the other hand, had only experienced the Virus ONCE. There were three problems with the HQ. First, for the HQ, there wasn't really much for the HQ to attack, except for the Virus' attempts of infection, and even then, there was not much to detect from that. The HQ could only detect that indirectly, as in see the RESULTS of the infection. But by then, it already be too late. The second thing is that is was not possible for the HQ to be faster than the Virus. The Virus had magic AND technology in it, as well as Elite Energy. This makes a very, VERY powerful combination, and there appeared to be no limit to how fast the Virus can be. The Virus was becoming so fast, that the rate increased EXPONENTIALLY, and even beyond that. The third is that, the HQ was changing, yes, but the HQ was changing semi-blindly, only on guesses on what the Virus would do next, and the effects of infection, because yes, there was no way for the HQ to detect that there was something there, except for the attempts of infection. The Virus' way of infection was undetectable until the infection has been done, as the Virus has made itself undetectable in every way. The Virus has made itself produce effects similar to Hikaru's displacement field, except that it wasn't a field, and that the Virus has removed its magical signature. That meant that the only way the HQ could tell that there was something there was if it was being infected. But by the time the HQ has been infected, it would be already too late, as the security system has already been breached.
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"I-" The ingrounded Hikaru put her hand out cutting her counterpart, the current Hikaru, off before she could speak any further.
"Depends. Are you going to stand in my way?" The ingrounded Hikaru's eyes narrowed as she she watched the both of them. "Because if you are, you die. Plain and simple. Anyone who resists the Sage Three's rule will be punished accordingly. Just like it was when we ruled oh so long ago."
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Leserlake looked down and said nothing.
"Well, I wouldn't," Gaserlake replied.
"Hello, everybody," said a voice. It was Smith. He walked forward toward the group proudly as he smiled. He seemed to come out of nowhere, but he must have been out of view when he did it. "I've listened to the whole thing. It's fascinating, if you ask me."
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"And how do I know to trust that?" The ingrounded Hikaru replied in question, her gaze one of skepticism. "I've dealt with enough mortals in years passed to know they'll lie just to stay alive or keep their status. And if you ask me, just by this short meeting, I've come to analyze you as the type that can't be trusted. Especially not since you're a dog to that one fool." She stared at him for a moment before glancing up at the appearance of Smith, "Oh, speak of the devil. He's here."
The ingrounded Hikaru and both her counterpart the current Hikaru, both stared at Smith, but only the ingrounded Hikaru spoke, "What? Come to manipulate your lab rat some more? Too bad. I'm running the show here, find your own location to mess with things." She stood up and walked towards him. "Leave."
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Both Gaserlake and Leserlake looked at Smith in nervousness. "Wait, what?" Gaserlake asked in a surprised tone as he looked at the ingrounded Hikaru as she described him as a 'lab rat'. Leserlake looked up in interest.
Smith still smiled. "A lab rat, you say? Oh no, not a lab rat. More of a... well... a someone to spend a lot of interest in." At that, Gaserlake looked at him questionably. "And you, Hikaru Tyris, has shown a lot of potential. Too bad it requires so much sacrifice. Anyway, a lot of things have been going on, and the Outerverse has become the center of attention, the main focus of interest," he resumed.
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"The Outerverse is none of your concern." The ingrounded Hikaru simply said. "It is by rights, mine, my counterparts, and anyone that shares my spirit. It has always been that way. Even back to the beginning of existence." At her statement the current Hikaru glanced over to the ingrounded Hikaru as the ingrounded Hikaru continued. "The subgrounded... Reincarnated perfect, no? Creators of this Existence, no? Asura said that. Well. The perfect I am reincarnated from was the creator of the Outerverse. I found that out while being partially ingrounded. So I suggest you stay out of it." Her tone it made sound as if the ingrounded Hikaru definitely meant it.
"Wait! So that one named Iroku, and the other Relorians. They were incorrect. I do have a right to it." The current Hikaru muttered.
"More of a right than anyone else." The ingrounded Hikaru continued to watch Smith, her eyes on his every move. She didn't cringe at his words about sacrifice, but she still heard them. "Lab rat, person of interest, dog, insect, slave, it's all the same to me. He's still the one you obviously seek to manipulate. Well. Manipulate him somewhere else. You're not welcome here." The ingrounded Hikaru glanced to her counterpart for a moment, "Tell the Virus to release Kurai."
"What?!"
"K2323 is taking his sweet time to get here, and I have plans to discuss. Plans that involve killing... Kurai is the best one to choose for that. Of course, you have to make her. You can have that Virus do that."
The current Hikaru slowly nodded before thinking to the Virus, "Release Kurai, but stay dormant. Await further orders for her after that."
"Excellent." The Ingrounded Hikaru smirked. "Now we start the games." By the tone of her voice and the way her eyes glinted, it could be obviously seen that the ingrounded Hikaru was up to something.
-
"You better enjoy the time you have left, Hikaru, because you have only but until several days left," Smith informed Hikaru as he grinned.
"What?" Gaserlake and Leserlake both said at the same time at the ingrounded Hikaru. "Ugh. You're not releasing her, are you?" Gaserlake asked in disgust.
The Virus released Kurai and remained dormant.
-
The ingrounded Hikaru said nothing back to Smith, she seemed to be ignoring him for the time being. "Now have it tell her to find K2323." She glanced back to Smith and snapped her fingers. When she did a rain cloud appeared above him, pouring rain.
"Just listen to my counterpart..." The current Hikaru muttered to the Virus aloud this time, not bothering to make it private. "Everything she says."
-
The raincloud has vanished in faster than a blink of an eye as Smith continued to grin. "Well, seems like someone isn't in the mood to talk. I'll make this quick, then. The Outerverse is pretty intriguing, and there would be... well... things going on around it."
"Yes, Mistress," the Virus replied to Hikaru. It now obeyed the ingrounded Hikaru. As a result, it used Kurai to go find K2323.
-
"LEAVE!" The Ingrounded Hikaru snapped, her tone was more forceful this time and her voice carried magic in it that shook the room they were in. "I don't have time to be dealing with you, you cad." The Ingrounded Hikaru jumped into the air and ran her hands through the air, white flames sparking into life, a fire so pure of a white that it shone with a brilliance that pained one to look at. Nothing Fire. A fire that in theory could disintegrate anything. Stronger than God Fire, hell, even stronger that Deicide Fire. But this was theory. Truthfully, the fire was a paradoxical fire. A fire that could cause a contradiction on anything it touched. To an Ingrounded? This was dangerous as their whole existence was based on contradictions that had piled upon their existence as a Subgrounded, a contradiction in its self.
As her hands held the flames, the air around the fire began to distort and twist, flowing into the fire its self and leaving patches of white space in where the 'air' around her once was. These patches seemed to be nothing, absolutely completely, nothing. And they didn't seem to be going away. Due to the power of the fire, the room started to curve inward towards the point of the flames. Everything was becoming distorted, and it all seemed to be on account of the Nothing Fire. The white flames that innocently burned ablaze around the Ingrounded Hikaru's hands.
When at last the flames had absorbed enough of the 'space and area' around her, the ingrounded Hikaru threw the Nothing Fire into the air and flicked her hands, the fire going out in strings, a net that dropped over Smith.
In her Subgrounded state, Hikaru could use this fire at times, but it left her drained and she could only use it for small periods of time. In her ingrounded state, however, the fire left no strain but for the price she paid for every Ingrounded spell she had used thus far. But since the ingrounded Hikaru had plans to fix that, it should be of no problem to use such a method of attack.
The current Hikaru, knowing the force of such a spell, silently whispered a chat that only she could hear, and a barrier surrounded her as well as the two Arlangs, a barrier invisible to the naked of eye of anyone of no magic. This way it looked to all that she wasn't protecting them, but in reality, she was.
-
The net, however, went through him, is if he wasn't there. It was like the net was aiming for just air.
"Alright, then," Smith said in response, "I'll be going, now. Goodbye, everybody." He then left through the locked door. He was able to open and close it, despite it being locked. The crowd of the two races didn't see Smith or the door open.
"Well, you made him leave. You succeeded," Gaserlake explained.
-
The net ended up falling to the floor and causing a contradiction to it, suddenly, there was no floor as it was now pure white as if they were standing on 'nothing.' (Much like Deletrius in effect.) The current Hikaru noticed this but said nothing. As she wasn't completely, she hadn't remembered the Nothing Fire, the power of it, or even what it was at this point. The Ingrounded Hikaru, however scoffed, gave a wave of her hand, and had the finger fade. The patches of white and now missing floor replaced by white, however, remained.
"If he comes back, I'll attack for more than just to have him leave. That meddling fool." She growled a bit, before glancing back to the 'group.'
-
Gaserlake and Leserlake looked at the white patches in wonder, but then dismissed the case as they thought it was mere coincidence, but they still had to be sure.
"So... this is that white place you sent me to, or just looks like it?" Leserlake asked.
"And several days until what?" Gaserlake asked, more curious than Leserlake.
-
The current Hikaru glanced to the white patches before glancing back to Leserlake, "How should I know? I didn't intend to go there. It was YOUR damn fields that botched my spell of forced teleportation. The destination was Hell." She narrowed eyes in a glared towards him. "I honestly don't know what type of place that was. It's not somewhere I can purposefully teleport to."
"The fire causes contradictions, dangerous to a Subgrounded or even an Ingrounded as their whole existence is a contradiction. So pile another one on, and it either becomes a tautology as Existence tries to correct its self. Or it causes a loop of contradictions that damage the contradiction. Apparently this time around, it became a tautology." The Ingrounded Hikaru looked annoyed at that. "That's the only reason it would have missed. Anyways, if the fire causes a contradiction to something that does exist, it deletes it. Thus the patches of air around us and the floor. It's gone, deleted from existence. If that place did look like this, then it must be a place of where things go when deleted. Or in the cause of the botched teleportation, when contradictions happen to Existence."
The current Hikaru observed the floor as her counterpart was continuing, "So then the floor is now in that place. If that assumption is correct..." She glanced to the air for a minute, "If that's true... It can be used to advantage in the upcoming offense. That place offered protection as it was somewhere they were unable to get to. So maybe it can offer a place to attack from as well. Perhaps force a botched teleportation?"
"But then if it's done on purpose, it's not a contradiction, but a tautology, and won't lead you there. It most likely has to happen on mere chance of an accident." The Ingrounded Hikaru avoided the next question, "Anyways, are we done here? I'd like to move on to my plans and get the horde within the other room off my hands."
-
"Hiding the Outerverse now, are we?" Leserlake mocked as he smiled.
"Several days until what?" Gaserlake asked again, this time louder. "He said you had several days left."
-
"It is of no concern." The ingrounded Hikaru simply answered.
The current Hikaru, however, muttered, "Who the hell would delete the Outerverse? So you want the Plane destroyed then? That's what it'd amount to." The current Hikaru glared. "If I throw anything in Deletrius, it'll be you!"
"That name works for it." The ingrounded Hikaru laughed, "Land of Deletion, Deletrius. And I agree, pitch them both in. I'm starting to dislike this one..." Her eyes observed Gaserlake as she said it.
-
Leserlake sighed and swore under his breath.
"Eh, do what you want, really," Gaserlake muttered.
-
"Have it your way." The ingrounded Hikaru raised her hand, the white flames flashing into life around it, once again. At sight of her counterpart, the current Hikaru's, expression, however, she dropped the spell. "Whatever. Are we done now?"
-
Gaserlake shrugged. "I just brought you guys here to talk about things we already talked about. So, do we stay in here or go back out of the room with the crowd, or what?"
-
"I send my people back and you decide what you're going to do with your people who just lost their dimension." The current Hikaru scowled. "Because they're not going to the Sage Dimension.
"Just kill them." The ingrounded Hikaru muttered. "Problem solved."
-
"Uh, no," Gaserlake said. "That wouldn't be necessary. They would be relocated to another position. Another dimension, of course."
-
"And what if I want to?" The ingrounded Hikaru smirked while at the same time rollling her eyes. "Gonna try to stop me?"
""Kill their other dogs first," the current Hikaru quickly mumbled to herself.
-
"Maybe," Gaserlake said. He turned to the current Hikaru and grinned. "Yeah, I heard that."
-
((Not waiting for K2 to help finish Takeback anymore.))
Through it all, a decently big vortex opens up near the partially Ingrounded Hikaru, from which Animas steps forth, looking rather worse for wear. "Been a rather long time since we've used that much power, we've grown out of shape. Had to stop your brother from bringing the destruction of an entire dimension for little to no reason."
-
As soon as the current Hikaur saw Animas she recalled what was said before they had left the Outerverse and sent a thought to the Virus before anything else, "Release all victims and hide dormant inside me. Animas, and the Relorians cannot know you're still around or they well seek to destroy you and ruin any further future plans. We'll just have to hope those damn Aralangs don't say anything and deal with it later." When that was done she glanced to Animas, "So it wasn't destroyed? Damn."
"It seems my brother has grown soft." The ingrounded Hikaru expressed in a dulled tone, "That's a shame, I was so hoping to see the fireworks. No matter. I'll just destroy the inhabitants."
-
The Virus released all its victims. It then teleported all of itself into Hikaru. It compressed itself, and made itself weightless, so there would be no difference in weight. "It is more than likely that the Aralangs would warn everybody about me," it told Hikaru in her mind. "They are determined to destroy me."
"The Prison Dimension? Eh... yeah... I can see that place being targeted by many," Gaserlake commented.
-
"Oh no, he tried. But, even the Sage Three have difficulty dealing with those like Us." They respond, smiling almost sickeningly sweetly at the ingrounded Hikaru. "And as for the Prison Dimension, it doesn't seem like there will be much of a dimension left once your little civil war there is done. Which reminds me, you may wish to be cautious of mutations amongst the survivors, exposure to dimensional radiation like that is rather dangerous to mortals. Even Sages. And of course, trying to use your energy vacuums would cause quite the pretty explosion."
They turn to face the subgrounded Hikaru, looking her over as if inspecting her. "You have not even attempted the second Orias yet." The female voice notes, for once devoid of the male. "My son would be rather disappointed to find out. Why haven't you? I'm sure you've had at least some free time since we last met, have you not?"
-
"Their leader agreed not to read my mind. If I can only slip away and fake something before meeting him again, he would have no way of knowing if what I say about you is correct or not. Well, unless he decides to break that promise." The current Hikaru finished answering the Virus and then looked back to Animas, "Koty isn't real. The 'Koty,' I knew, was nothing but a spell. A personality given to a seal. Destruction said it himself. Therefore what point is there to a ritual? Koty was a lie, my kids are a lie, and the whole situation was a lie. I should have simply re-sealed him back in Erebus when it still existed." The subgrounded Hikaru looked like she didn't want to approach the subject any further.
"I have kids?" The ingrounded Hikaru looked annoyed, "Well isn't that amusing. Hmm, kill them, make them my servants, or toss them at my brother. Choices... choices.." The ingrounded Hikaru looked at the ceiling as she went over each option aloud, her voice one of playfulness. "I'd say kill. Oh and embodiment, don't try to tower over the Sage Three. You may be a force. But we defy the forces and in the end, we will win every battle."
-
"Yeah, well I'm talking about the Aralangs that I have released. They would be the ones to warn everyone," the Virus replied.
"Oh, don't worry," Gaserlake assured Animas as he grinned. "Our ESTs would be able to make sure that nothing bad happens."
-
((Sorry, forgot to respond to the subgrounded Hikaru.))
Animas shudders, their shadow bursting outwards in a furious flurry of shapeshifting as waves of power burst out of their body, eerily similar to Koty's own. "DO NOT THREATEN MY LOVE" The male bellows, the shadow quickly subsiding as Animas places their left hand atop their right, as if comforting someone else. "Now now, that's no way to behave. If you want friends, you have to be nice to them, remember?" The female voice responds, as if speaking to the male. "You see, Miss Tyris and Miss Tyris, we are more than a simple Embodiment. You are, after all, not the only one who knows of the Sub- and Surgrounded. And as for Koty, just because he's the Embodiment of Destruction doesn't mean he is without humanity, even unsealed. Once humanity is gained, it is not so easy to cast away. Emotions are powerful, stubborn things after all. And now, with your bond, weak as it is, that humanity is assured even without his Seal. Our kin did not create inhuman Embodiments save the Embodiments of Inhumanity, Void, and Emptiness."
-
"And I should care why?" The ingrounded Hikaru looked a bit skeptic, her eyes just barely blinking at what just took place "I will destroy anyone and anything that stands in the way of my plans. Be it mortal, sage, or embodiment. And no mere threat will stop me. So unless you want to die, or be my slave, I suggest you BACK OFF." As she said this, the air sparked around her with golden energy, a faint flamed rippling around the air, her eyes narrowed to almost slits which glinted in the light from the sparks.
"We'll fake your destruction at a later time. Then have them believe it." The subgrounded Hikaru continued to watch the exchange between her counterpart and Animas so as not to show anything different, her voice tone emotionless, "There is no humanity to retain. He wasn't just sealed to have humanity. The humanity WAS the seal. I know this, he attempted to have me release the seal, but doing so would have destroyed all of 'Koty' that was left. Destruction would have been all that remained. No seal, no Koty. Therefore Koty is a lie, as it is just a seal with sentience.." Clasping her hands together, the subgrounded Hikaru stared at the floor, "I want nothing more to do with any of it. Go ahead, break the ritual. Koty and my kids are nothing to me. And that's not going to change."
-
Gaserlake and Leserlake stood clear of the fire.
"I thought you cared for your kids," Leserlake said with a surprised look.
-
The subgrounded Hikaru continued to stare at the floor, her voice low, "I care for nothing."
"And so the brats will be killed." The Ingrounded Hikaru finished her counterparts statement with a smirk. "Less people with the Revelation and Genesis magic, the better."
-
"What if I take them?" Gaserlake asked out loud.
-
"Oh come now, the only reason you care for nothing is that seal of yours, and everyone here knows it, most of all myself. Though it is a shame your ingrounded counterpart here refuses to see the benefits of descendants." They reply, shaking their head as they walk over to SubHikaru, glancing at InHikaru on the way. "Do you truly enjoy being so careless? Indeed, nearly throwing away half of what makes you so great?"
-
The subgrounded Hikaru looked back up at Animas, her eyes catching their own, "The seal is gone. What I say now is truly what I feel."
"I JUST said the less holders of Revelation and Genesis magic, the better. Are you really that hard of hearing and understanding? There will be no decedents of myself or my brothers, I intend to see to that. So. they will be killed."
-
"Well, not to me!" Gaserlake yelled at the ingrounded Hikaru as he pointed to himself. "They may be useless to you, but not to me! I don't care if it would mean that there's less people with Revelation and Genesis magic, or not!"
-
"But I do. I won't have the powers of my ancestors or the Sage Three passed any further," the ingrounded Hikaru pointed at him. "And you, you're treading on thin ice right now, mortal," she snapped her fingers and what do you know? The white nothing that had once been the floor under him was now coated with ice. Ice that began to crack.
-
Gaserlake rolled his eyes and folded his arms at her threat. He simply stepped aside off the ice.
-
Animas shakes their heads, smiling at the subgrounded Hikaru. "Then why do you seem so subdued, Phoenix Sage Queen? Your feelings for him were doubtlessly real, else the Orias would have maimed the both of you. Even with seals, feelings like that do not simply disappear." The female voice asks, as one eye, rather decidedly brown, ticks over independantly to look at the Ingrounded one.
"Truly you are a pitiable creature, incapable of seeing the inherent value in others. A shame, your actions will be ever wasteful because of it. Good it is, then, that your counterpart here has learned that lesson." The male replies, his voice somber, almost sorrowful.
-
"He's NOTHING!" Flames surrounded her as the subgrounded HIkaru shouted. "Koty, the kids, the ritual, all of it! Nothing! In fact, if time could be changed I would go back and stop myself from ever befriending the child. I would have cast it away into Hell when I first sealed him! The Keepers of Erebus had the right idea. Hell! Even that damn serpent, Lucifer had the right idea! Now if you don't mind, I'd rather forget him, forget them all." With that, she took the inverted cross from her neck as well as the seal that was the Mark of Eternity and threw them at the wall, using her finger to aim a concentrated beam of Deicide Fire at the two fallen artifacts. The cross, that was the last piece of Erebus, and the Mark of Eternity which held the key to unlocking the seal besides Revelation magic.
"Pitiable? Lesson unlearned, is that what you think?" The ingrounded Hikaru smirked, "Then you have yet to know anything. There's a reason I came back. And it wasn't just to cause trouble and destroy everyone." The ingrounded Hikaru laughed aloud at her own declaration, her golden eyes glinting with a bit of malice. "The price for being in state. It's almost up. My counterpart and I have to become one again or existence will erase us. Too many contradictions have happened, and because I'm bound to existence yet not, existence wants to fix its self. So don't think that lesson will be learned for long. Well, acknowledged, anyways."
-
Animas shakes their head as the flames burst from the Subgrounded's finger. Extending their own, a shining wall of pure white snaps into existence between the objects and the fire, the fire disappearing and revealing the white to be a portal, forcing the Fire into the Outerverse. "A borrowed power of Destruction, hinging upon your Orion state. You do not understand that which you dabble with milady Tyris. For non-embodiments such as yourself, even partially Ingrounded as your counterpart is, such power demands a price." The male voice calls out, even as the female mouths a spell to pull the two objects to their hand.
"Perhaps we should hold onto these until such time that you are in a sane state of mind." Together, they glance at the Ingrounded and their voices ring as one once more. "Your wishes and hers shall battle when you become one. Yours, I know, will not win the war that will ensue." They turn again to the Subgrounded. "You say they mean nothing yet your unreasonable anger says otherwise. Lying to oneself is worse than lying to others. Do try to remember this, the both of you."
-
"Well, you better hurry up," Gaserlake mocked. "The almighty power of the partially Ingrounded should go in vain."
-
However, the fire came back through another portal and blasted the items before they could change position, subgrounded Hikaru was ready for that one. "It's borrowed power, yes, but not one through your damn ritual. I had obtained it before the ritual.." She glared at Animas, "You think so do you, honestly? Well what about when I kill Koty and help my counterpart to kill the kids? What then? Will that be enough proof to you that they're nothing to me? Face it, your ritual is gone. It never really was to begin with since Koty was never there. How can one be bonded to a seal? It's nothing but a false incarnation of magic."
The ingrounded Hikaru ignored Gaserlake and took it upon herself to walk to her counterpart, lingering out of the way from Animas, but speaking to them. "Why would they battle? We're the same person, just different experiences. The only reason my counterpart here cares for anything is because those two fools right there," the ingrounded Hikaru motioned to the two Aralangs. "I believe the mortals refer to it as Stockholm Syndrome? Sympathy for your captors." The subgrounded Hikaru gave a slight glare to her counterpart's words as her counterpart continued. "All she needs is her pride and determination back, which is what I have, and the Hikaru that was once a legend to the dimensions will have returned. But that's both of us. We both became that."
"And it's not possible to be that while being separated..." The subgrounded Hikaru finished the ingrounded Hikaru's sentence. "In that case, I'm all for it."
-
Gaserlake shrugged. "Well, go for it, if you want. That's what I want you to be, anyway. But, I'm happy for you to do that. Why? Because you're one step closer to being able to kill without caring."
Leserlake looked at Gaserlake in disbelief. "Seriously, dude?" he asked. Gaserlake nodded back at him.
-
At Hikaru's last statement Animas outright cackles. "Honestly, the Subgrounded has experienced so much more than the Ingrounded that neither know of what they speak. Koty is more than a mere seal, more than mere destruction. He is an embodiment, one step under Us. And you are you, split or not. If you truly were that ruthless, arrogant tyrant at heart, splitting would not have changed that. And dear, sophomoric Aralang, remorseless killing is not a good thing. It splinters the mind and heart, causes insanity like your own."
-
"You know nothing of the nature of this spell." The ingrounded Hikaru cynically replied, "Split memories, split personality, split lives. One changes through experiences. Simple, my counterpart here was 'tamed.' I was not. Don't speak of spells you have no idea of the power of, embodiment or not, there is magic even the embodiments don't comprehend. Magic even the Perfect themselves knew nothing about. Magic to yes, even split us in such a complete way that not even your little created ritual has effect to us both. Go ahead, check. The ritual isn't tied to my half."
"I've had it with them," the subgrounded HIkaru proceeded to ignore Gaserlake's comment, though it didn't mean she hadn't heard it, she was just too busily focused on Animas to care, "There are things better left forgotten, and people better left dead, and I'm starting to think you're one of them.
"I concur," the ingrounded Hikaru agreed, She threw out her hand, a trail of golden sparks igniting along the motion, "We'll settle our differences later, Aralang, for now, I believe we have a common enemy?" The ingrounded Hikaru gestured at Animas while the subgrounded Hikaru looked at her counterpart like she was crazy. "Just do try to not get in he way. I don't want you dead. Yet."
-
Gaserlake and Leserlake looked at each other and they both grinned. Gaserlake and Leserlake looked back at the partially Ingrounded Hikaru. Gaserlake nodded at the Ingrounded Hikaru and, with lightning speed, Gaserlake pulled out a handgun and shot at Animas without turning his head.
-
With a flash of black, the bullet deflects off a slightly translucent silver sphere surrounding Animas' body?. Three shadows shift within the sphere, one where Animas stood, two beside it, overlapping the center. "Now now, that's not very nice. Three against one? Well, I suppose I should say two and a half shouldn't I? Shall I call some friends to even the odds a bit, Misses Tyris and Mr. Leserlake? I'm sure it's a confrontation they would find quite interesting." The female voice calls out from within the left shadow, echoing slightly. "Best be careful. If you scratch me, I can't be held responsible for what my partner does."
-
Because Animas hadn't bothered stopping the fire the second time, both the cross and the mark of Eternity burnt up. However, due to the properties of being the last piece of Erebus, the black glass merely became red from the heat of the fire and didn't burn. But for the Mark of Eternity, it was now ashes.
"Fair is only for fights that are for honor." The ingrounded Hikaru flicked her hand and the golden sparks shaped themselves into the form of a sword made completely of golden flames, Holy Fire. "But in this case, honor can go to hell. I just simply don't like you." She gave the sword a short wave, releasing trails of Holy Fire in the direction of the wave, seeming to be testing it for the time being.
"And quite frankly, I'm starting to agree with my counterpart." The subgrounded Hikaru glared at the cross that lay unphased by the fire and still in one piece for a moment before holding out her hand, the staff of Genesis and Revelation magic entwined, materializing within in it. "So yes, three against one, or in the case of you, three against two." She twirled the staff with both hands, a torrent of Revelation and Genesis magic mixed, which rushed at Animas in the form of a twister.
-
"You don't even know who you're even going up against!" Gaserlake raised his voice as he smirked at Animas. He lowered his gun. "My name's Gaserlake, and if you meant our last names, it's Letanson. I don't know where the hell you got Leserlake from. Are you high or something? Drugs are bad for you, mkay? Hehehe..."
Leserlake smiled. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at Gaserlake's last comments.
-
They both laugh, this time the voice originating from the center shadow as the right shadow ripples slightly, the silver sphere brightening as the two attacks slam into it, pushing it back a few feet but not seeming to do any lasting damage. "My name is Neirron Tsoirec, Embodiment of Protection. You shall not defeat my sphere with such basic attacks." The male calls out, his shadow raising its hand to the ceiling as it seems to stare down the Ingrounded, completely ignoring the relatively powerless Aralangs.
-
"I know this would be breaking my promise," Gaserlake said to the ingrounded and the current Hikaru with a secure telepathic message, "but I suggest putting some fields up.... You said you didn't want to be fair, so I'm just suggesting."
-
However, the attacks were far form basic. The wave of Holy Fire and the two entwined attacks of Genesis and Revelation magic merged together in their path and took the form of a bird which flew at the sphere. Instead of just meeting its match and dispersing, the magic bird construct simply 'pecked' harder at the sphere, and attacked it over and over and over, each attack more stronger than the last, and each strike more precise. The hostile magic was intent on breaking the defense, and it wasn't going to disappear until it did.
"What?! The subgorunded Hikaru sounded shocked in her telepathic message back. "As if I would EVER agree to tha-"
"Let him," The ingrounded Hikaru interrupted mid-telepathic message to both of them, as the subgrounded Hikaru took all her will power to not start yelling, "I'm not affected by such silly fields, and besides, it'd be amusing to watch the embodiment fall to something so mortal."
"Grrr, fine. Do it." The subgrounded Hikaru sent back to both her counterpart and Gaserlake, but it was obvious by the tone of her voice she didn't like it, and definitely didn't want to.
"Excellent," the ingrounded Hikaru finished aloud, but left it a mystery as to what she talking about, preferring to rather keep one wondering. Raising the sword in one of her hands, she threw it up in the air and caught it back in her other hand, where it now took the shape of a rapidly spinning sphere, which expanded by the second. "Let's play," The Ingrounded Hikaru locked eyes with Animas and then proceeded to throw the now planet-sized sphere which seemed to be completely harmless and undamaging into the white nothing that once was the floor.
Except, when it hit the floor, the sphere didn't hit, but rather went 'through' it and and came out one of the white patches of space within the air, namely, one right behind Animas. At that time, the ingrounded Hikaru snapped her fingers, and the sphere became alight with golden flames, the sphere now extremely dangerous. "Your catch."
-
The sphere shakes a small bit with each peck, but otherwise bolsters itself further and further to match the bird's power while the female shadow places her palm flat against the interior of the protective shield. Letting her feelings for the male shadow fill her and tint her a slight rose red, she lends her own power to the sphere, further boosting it in preparation for the rather absurdly large fireball. Through the sphere, a small light sprouts within the male's midsection, roughly at the bottom of his ribcage. The center shadow fades, disappearing as the male and female shadows reach out to each other, the sphere brightening and thickening the closer their hands get. "We do not wish to fight you, kindly do not force us." They call out together, the shadows seeming to solidify and grow darker, more substantial as the sphere shifts suddenly, a great maw like that of some sort of mutated alligator springing out around the bird's beak, snapping shut as barbed teeth sink into the magic. With every tiny bit of Hikarus' magic that touches these teeth, the sphere redoubles its strength, markings engraving themselves into its surface that start pushing back, hard, against the flaming planet.
-
"Alright, all fields are going to be emitted in several seconds. Just make sure this sunovabitch pays," Gaserlake telepathically told the two Hikaru's, malice evident in his message.
A Keeper arrived, cloaked. It emitted every anti- field it had in the area.
-
"Stop."
K2323 appeared right before the Anti-Fields went up. Purple surrounded him to form a sort of cloak, the sign of Fatet, embodiment of fate. He grinned, his eyes set on all those present. A purple haze poured out into the center of the room, and it took the shape of a tree. This tree was large, taking up a good portion of the room, its branches covering the controls of the control room. From the bark of the tree, black chains appeared, all of which reached out towards Animas all at one time.
"It's time we end this, Animas."
-
The woman's eyes burst in a light red flare, the protective shield shimmering a moment as the chains pass through them, and shatter like glass. The entire shield shifts to the color of the flare as the male shadow fades away, leaving the woman standing tall and strong, but alone. Her voice, stronger than ever, thunders out as a sort of pulse rumbles out from the sphere. "My love defies Fate, even your chains cannot bind us Fatet! Creating you was one of the mistakes my kin committed, and I'll take this chance to erase that fuck up! My children shall live without your bindings!" She calls out, red flower petals bursting out from the sphere like daggers, sticking to the tree and spreading their influence across the bark, shifting it from purple to red.
-
The fight went on for a good while, just fine.. But it was only a matter of time before existence caught up with the group. What occurred next.. Not even Smith would have been able to explain. The Abandoned Guardian HQ began to shatter, like a million pieces of glass.
A bubble of purple energy surrounded K2323, and all he saw was black.. The entire HQ dimension began to shatter, existence itself ripping around it.. And then, with a loud, resounding RIPPING noise, it broke apart some three different ways right around them, scattering everyone in different directions, into the darkness of existence.. Whatever that meant.
By the time the rip closed, all that was left of the dimension was a single piece of debris which floated through the air, free. Aboard the debris floated both Animas and Fatet, the two embodiments of the group, their abilities having somehow protected them from whatever had just taken place.. Or maybe they'd just gotten lucky.
Fatet was unconscious, but his power was not. It knew that it had to get him somewhere safe.. But where? Where could it take him? There was only one place that made sense.. It had to take him home.
With a resounding pop, Fate itself left the Abandoned Guardian Headquarters dimension, leaving its destiny.. undecided.
-
The ingrounded Hikaru had been waiting for this. Using her power in such quantities as she had in this battle? It was causing things to become unstable. She hadn't even used a fraction of the powers that being partially ingrounded brought her. But even then, it was enough to cause too many contradictions in one place of existence. Add that to the fact she was already running low on time, and something of this magnitude was to be expected. Existence wasn't stupid. One could only cheat its system of fixing its self for so long. But the ingrounded Hikaru had plans, she wasn't going to be erased this easily. She had come back for a reason, and it wasn't to be wiped out by Existence.
"BROTHER!" The ingrounded Hikaru called out through the havoc whilst grabbing the subgrounded Hikaru's wrist to gain a hold of her other half while she readied their escape from Existances attempt to correct itself, a golden-white energy surrounding the two of them, "The Arami Scrolls were never destroyed!"
And with that last proclamation, the Ingrounded Hikaru who had a hold on the Subgrounded Hikaru, who had had grabbed the two Aralangs at the last moment, as she didn't intend for them to die until she herself could kill them, all disappeared in flash of gold before Existence could grab them. Their entire presence had disappeared. Not just from the Guardian Dimension, but from the Dimensional Plane, and around it as well. It was if they had died. Their existence vanished.
-
Neirron's Protection, again triggering on raw instinct, reforms the familiar dome around Animas, forcing him to pass out while Leirra remains conscious. "You've lucked out, it seems. Your fool sister refused to reign herself in, as she often does, and she's destroyed this place because of it. She acts so knowledgeable yet she understands so little. Farewell, Fatet. Our fight is not yet over." She calls out, smirking at the prone body before they, too, disappear in a flourish of flower petals.